Skaters trained by OU instructors compete in Olympics

Mitchell Islam and Alexandra Paul, of Ontario CA, are OU students who have received off-ice dance instruction from two instructors in the OU Dance Program,Christina Tasco and Stephanie Pizzo. The Canadian couple came to the U.S. to work with renowned coaches Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills. They will compete in ice dancing at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Two Oakland University political science students, Alexandria Paul and Mitchell Islam, will be competing in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia as the OU instructors who taught them dancing look on in anticipation.

In fact, OU dance instructors Christina Tasco and Stephanie Pizzo will not only be watching Paul and Islam ice dancing for Team Canada on Sunday, Feb. 16, and Monday, Feb. 17, they will also be following the progress of seven other skaters from around the world whom they had been training in preparation for the Olympics that run through Feb. 23.

Tasco and Pizzo, who are members of OU’s dance faculty, have spent many hours over two years at the Detroit Skating Club in Bloomfield Hills teaching the skaters off-ice dance classes and helping with on-ice routines. Pizzo teachs modern, ballet and special techniques, and Tasco teaches ballet.

Just as with her students at OU, Tasco said, “I believe that my job is to do my best every day to get the most out of each (skating) student.

Advertisement

“They, in the end, have to put the work in to get where they want to be in either the dance or skating world; but most students need someone to guide them and show them what they are capable of achieving. That is the mission for my teaching - to give every student I work with proper information to not only know their field, but also catch a glimpse of a vision.”

Paul and Islam, who have been dancing together since 2009, are the only OU students among the skaters the pair have been preparing for the major world competition.

The couple previously won a silver medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships, a bronze medal at the 2011 Canadian Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy competition. They qualified for the Olympics after winning the bronze medal at the 2014 Canadian Championships in early January, said OU spokesman Brian Bierly in a press release.

“When we heard our scores at nationals and knew we had made it, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders,” said Islam said before the games started. “All the hard work, the early mornings and the sacrifices I’ve made over the course of my career were worth it. I’m really looking forward to the opening ceremonies and walking into the stadium with my country-mates.”

Both Paul and Islam are natives of Barrie, Ontario and moved to Michigan in 2012 to train with esteemed coaches Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo at the Detroit Skating Club. Their rigorous training schedule keeps them on the ice for three or more hours per day, five to six days a week, and they can also be found in the gym and in off-ice dance classes, Bierly said.

“OU has been such an important part of my life since moving to the U.S.,” Paul said. “I really enjoy having something to take my mind off of training. It is such an amazing thing for an athlete to be able to sit in a classroom and really be able to go to school, not just take a few courses online.”

Islam described OU as “very accommodating” and says his favorite part of the experience “has been taking politics classes in a different country, offering an increased perspective to my studies.”

The other skaters receiving dance training from the OU instructors are Jeremy Abbott, USA, and Valentina Marchei, Italy, who are singles competition; while Narumi Takahashi, Japan, is a pairs skater. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, of Canada and Danielle O’Brien and Greg Merriman, of Australia; like, Paul and Islam, will compete in the ice dancing category.